Twisted and dark psychological thriller with a family torn apart from losing the youngest daughter. Oh, and dad might be a serial killer. Love me a book where almost everyone is an unreliable narrator. The mystery is strong. The family dynamics very well done. This will be a good pick for mystery book clubs. A lot to unpack here. Thank You to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Wow! Absolutely loved this book and finished it in one sitting. What a ride!

July has escaped her hometown and she has no intention of returning. Now living in Nashville as a successful songwriter, she’s changed her name and managed to escape her family’s dark past. Almost.

Lies and the past will always catch up with you and July finds herself back in her hometown where it all started. Where her sister was murdered amongst many other women, and the place that put her father in prison for the rest of his life. What could go wrong?

A must read! This book literally did not bore me at any point, I was gripped!

ARC provided by NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the Weaver family through the investigation of a serial killer whose first victim was the youngest sibling, May.

At one point or another I suspected nearly every character in this book of being the killer, however I docked 1 star because when the plot twist did come, it felt very rushed and kind of just tacked onto the end.

Overall a great read! Looking forward to reading more from this author!

Being slightly crazy with 8 year old twins myself- this one hurt.
Losing one of mine is terrifying.
The house was divine though; creepy, and detailed, and fun. The perfect place to raise a weird brood of children.
Kathy reminds me of my aunt Cheryl so naturally I love her.
Also I relate to July. I have a mentally ill brother I care for myself. It is a lot of work! The same madness runs in my family, just not the same tragedies.
I was enthralled by this book to say the least.
July is especially relatable. She's a mess and also trying to keep it all together. I love her!

The end though- it is real twisty.

Maybe though five or six serial killer books in a row is an issue.

Write more please emily. I will be waiting Eagerly.

Thank you for the ARC.

This book was full of twists and turns. After a family tragedy the family drifts apart. A series of events has brought them back together. I would recommend this book.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Wow. This was darker than I usually read but very original. I really enjoyed the complicated (understatement!) family dynamics but what set it apart from the usual thriller was the quality of the writing. I also found the concept very unique.

This was a great debut thriller! I was drawn in, freaked out, and along for the ride. The ending surprised me and I loved how atmospheric the setting was. Some parts did seem a bit repetitive but that may have been on purpose from the author to trick us or highlight important pieces. Overall, it didn't bother me and I really enjoyed this!

I received an ARC of this book from Crooked Lane via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. First, this is quite impressive for a debut novel! Ms. Smith is definitely a talented writer. The prose was beautiful, and the characters very well-developed. The Weaver family is unusual for sure, and some of the details (Father Time???) had me wondering how on earth the author came up with that.

I did not guess the ending - I think it was well-played and sufficiently concealed. However, it seemed like there were just a couple loose ends that could have been tied up to make it better.

One star off because this took me a LONG time to read. There are a lot of portions in the middle where not much happens, and we hear the same back story over and over in different words.

I will definitely keep reading this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing! I absolutely love thrillers, but I feel like I can usually repeat the story a million times over and that the characters feel flat - as much as I love the genre I admit that a lot of times it feels like I’m reading the same blank woman in a slightly different story each time lmao.

This book was incredibly refreshing on that end. There’s a lot of history to our characters here, and a cast of all these siblings, who our main has different relationships with - and who have different relationships with each other. There were aspects I thought were predictable (like the killer) but even then, there was enough doubt introduced to have me questioning if maybe I was wrong and the author was pulling a fast one over me. I also like how not every plot point is tied up into a neat bow. It feels more real, that life isn’t perfect but the ending in the book is still great.

I loved this small town mystery starring a very unique family and cannot wait for Emily Smith's next novel!

July Weaver has returned home to assist her family as her younger brother is in the hospital, he mother is battling mental illness and the remaining siblings need help. 9 years ago, her youngest sister was murdered along with several other related killings and her father was incarcerated for the crimes. July did not ever want to come back to the small town but now she has. no choice. She is faced right away with the townspeople she wants to avoid, but more than one person says something that makes her question the narrative of her family.... What happened back then? Why would her father become a serial killer.

This is a super interesting book and I loved meeting the family.
#CrookedLaneBooks #YouAlwaysComeBack #EmilySmith

The secrets of the Weaver family are finally coming back to haunt them. When July, now Jules Thomas, receives a phone call that her youngest brother tried committing suicide, she drops everything to return home. But there’s no warm welcome for her. She was supposed to look after Deck, to take care of him like she promised her eldest brother, Auggie, she would. But not only is Deck worse than ever before, he’s apparently been claiming their father really didn’t murder their youngest sister after all. As wild as it sounds, July can’t help but wonder if it’s true.

While there’s no love lost between her and her father, July still sets out to learn the truth no matter what cost. For her own sanity and the rest of her family’s, as well as her sister’s memory. Once and for all she needs to know who killed May and whether it’s too late to get justice for her.
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What a deep, delicious dark family dynamic I got to sink my teeth into! The Weaver family is a bunch of misfits with lots of skeletons in their closets buried beneath layers of shame, anger, and their unique ideas of perfection. At times this was painfully hard to read but I love Smith’s raw, honest dialogues regarding addiction and mental illness. She also knew how to keep me guessing with every new bit of info July discovered and I couldn’t wait to see how all the pieces came together. I love the build-up to the twist and reveal, and how everything worked out in the end. Absolutely thrilling and enjoyable for those who love super dark family dramas!!

I really enjoyed reading this book. It grabbed my attention right away and kept me hooked until the very end. I ended up reading this book in one night because I needed to know what happened. Thanks NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

This page turning gripping thriller was amazing! I was hooked from the start and couldn't put the book down until the end! I loved this! It literally put chills down my spine at times! Love love love this!!!
I just reviewed You Always Come Back by Emily Smith. #YouAlwaysComeBack #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Fantastic book. Kept me guessing throughout and I couldn't put it down. Didn't know what to think or who to believe!

"You Always Come Back" by Emily Smith is a gripping thriller exploring July Weaver's dark past and her troubled family. Her father was convicted and imprisoned for being the Pacific Lake Killer after July's testimony. Years later, she returns home and discovers new evidence that challenges her beliefs. With danger looming, July questions her accusations and the killer's continued presence. The book skillfully alternates between past and present, revealing the intricate dynamics of the Weaver family. While the writing effectively captures the eerie small-town atmosphere, some details and character actions felt rushed. Despite occasional repetition, the book offers suspense and compelling characters. Overall, it is a solid read with potential, suitable for various tastes.

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I must say I struggled the first couple of pages with the Weavers. They all just seem so problematic and I really didn't like their family dynamic. But after the moment they all had to go back to Pacific I started warming up to them. The change between "Then" and "Now" was perfectly placed and you could start to build your own opinion like this.

There were some great characters, villains, culprits and revelations which made this book a real joy to read.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy!

This is my first book by this author. The premise is that July found evidence that landed her father in jail for being the Pacific serial killer. She and her brothers have stayed away for years, but they've all come back at the request of her oldest brother, Auggie, who has stayed. Her other brother, Deck tried to throw himself off a bridge. There is a lot of back and forth in this book from childhood to present which was ok. Their mother suffered from Schizophrenia and the kids basically raised themselves. July's little sister, May, disappeared, and it is believed the father killed her. All th kids gather at home and agree to stay on longer for their oldest brother's wedding. July begins to have doubts that her father was the serial killer... it was her evidence that put him away in jail. This is more of a domestic story, than a thriller. The writing was difficult for me at times, and I'm not sure why. The kids were named after the months of the year in which they were born and the parents went by their first names. I liked the book, but didn't love it and wasn't too excited by the ending. I do recommend it as you may enjoy it. Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it.

My Rating: 3.5 rounded down to 3⭐️⭐️⭐️ - this is a worthy three stars definitely worth the read, gets the job done and entertaining!!!

The Weaver’s are a strange family all the children named after month’s of the year, a schizophrenic mother who rarely takes her medication, a father with pie in the sky ideas and a weird habit of disappearing, and a brood of children who are just trying to survive, take care of each other and themselves.

Nine years earlier, July Weaver’s 8 year old sister May, was taken from her bed and became known as the first victim of the Pacific Lake Killer. When other girls begin to disappear and are found dead in the small town in Georgia, everyone begins to look at each other with more suspicion none come under more scrutiny than the Weaver’s.

July’s testimony was the key factor in locking her father up as a serial killer and after sentencing she flees to build a new life with a new name as a country music songwriter in Nashville, taking just one of her siblings with her after striking a deal with her oldest brother August.

When her family are in trouble July reluctantly comes ‘home’ to a place she never wanted to return to, with traumatic memories - but things are never as they seem and July is left questioning everything she thought she knew about that time almost a decade before… does she really know what happened back then??

This kind of story is right up my alley, it has small town vibes, it has a really messed up family (so messed up) and it has a serial killer so really I am sold immediately. I would like to start off by saying that while this is not a 5 star review this book was solid. I really enjoyed it, however it was just not 5 star calibre. I do think the author has it in her though…and I would absolutely read another book by her so I look forward to more of her work… I think she nails the creepy family vibe.

For me where this worked was the writing, it is a little flowery but it isn’t so much so you know the exact colour palette of a butterfly… but she uses words to paint a really nice picture which is just what you need. The lake is basically a character all on its own… it is ominous and a sense of both joy and dread which I really liked.

The story is told from July’s POV but in the Then and Now… which I always really like especially when we are only getting one POV the timeline switch is a sure fire way to get me to read just one more chapter so I can go back or forward depending on the cliff you left me hanging off. The author did a great job of building suspense and I was teetering on the edge quite a few times.

I think the characters were well written and thought out and the dynamics of the family depicted the pariah status of them in town, the ups and downs in the household and also how they so viciously banded together when they needed to… and didn’t.

I can see you thinking… hmmm Karly why the 3.5 that all sounds great… well it was great and while I did guess the ending - I wasn’t sure how it was going to be executed but that wasn’t why I rated it down.

I wanted MORE. More creepy vibes, more ominous small town grimy feels and I think while most of the characters were well developed there was some missing information about the father (I mean he was the serial killer right??) and also some of the actions of the characters are a bit WTF when you get to the twist it felt a bit rushed.

Another down side for me was that this was quite repetitive I understand why the author kept rehashing things but it did go into a bit of - ok I’ve read that enough now - territory but it didn’t ruin it.

I read another review that said this is quite dark… I disagree - well to a point it is dark… but (if you see the books I read) for me it wasn’t Dark Thriller. I do believe it belongs in the thriller / domestic suspense genre though.

Overall: would I recommend - definitely this one will suit people of all tastes. If you are a hardcore thriller fan who loves gore… it might be a mid range rating for you but still enjoyable and if you are a light touch thriller fan this one might be a 5 star. So yeah I reckon get into it… give it a go and I hope you like it.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, NetGalley and Emily Smith for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

The Pacific Lake Killer killed July's little sister years ago. Her sister was just one of several young girls that disappeared. July gave the testimony that saw her father imprisoned for the crimes.

After a brother's suicide the remaining siblings come together to face the dysfunction that has held them back. Then, clues start appearing - new evidence that her father might not be the killer.

If the killer is still out there July may be next in his sights.

A mix of southern gothic, dysfunction, murder, and twists and turns that leave you breathless